Utah: Anti-SLAPP Laws

The short answer

Utah adopted the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act (UPEPA) in 2023,
replacing an older, much narrower 2008 law that only covered speech about
participating in government. If you're sued over a communication in a
government proceeding or over free speech, press, assembly, petition, or
association activity on a matter of public concern, you can file a special
motion for expedited relief within 60 days of being served. Filing it
automatically stays the whole case, including discovery, through any
appeal. The court then applies a summary-judgment-style screen, and a
prevailing movant recovers fees and costs as a matter of course. Only the
defendant who files the motion has a statutory right to an immediate
appeal, and only from a denial — a plaintiff whose claim gets dismissed has
no matching immediate-appeal right under this statute.

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Utah's anti-SLAPP law is the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act,
Utah Code §§ 78B-25-101 to 78B-25-115, enacted in 2023 (Chapter 488, 2023
General Session) and effective May 3, 2023. It replaced the state's older
"Citizen Participation in Government Act," which still governs any cause
of action asserted before that date. No section has been substantively
amended since 2023; a 2025 bill (S.B. 301) that would have narrowed the
Act to defamation and slander claims only, among other cuts, died in the
Senate without passing.

What speech or conduct is protected

The Act reaches a cause of action based on a communication in a
legislative, executive, judicial, administrative, or other governmental
proceeding; a communication on an issue under consideration or review by
such a body; or the exercise of free speech, press, assembly/petition, or
association rights on a matter of public concern. The definition of "goods
or services" used in the commercial-speech exemption expressly excludes
creative, literary, musical, political, journalistic, and artistic works,
so that kind of expression stays protected even near the edge of that
exemption.

The special motion for expedited relief

File within 60 days of being served with the pleading that asserts the
claim, or later on a showing of good cause. The court must hold a hearing
within 60 days of the motion being filed (extended if the court allows
discovery, or for other good cause), and must rule within 60 days after
that hearing. Filing the motion automatically stays every other proceeding
between the parties — including discovery, other pending motions, and
hearings — through any appeal. A party can still get limited discovery
during the stay by showing specific information is necessary to resolve
the motion and isn't otherwise reasonably available.

Burden of proof

First, the movant must show the Act applies. Second, the responding party
can try to show one of the exemptions takes the claim back out of the
Act's coverage. Third, if the Act still applies, the court must dismiss
with prejudice if either the responding party fails to make a prima facie
case on every essential element of the claim, or the movant affirmatively
shows the responding party failed to state a claim at all, or that there's
no genuine issue of material fact and the movant wins as a matter of law.
This tracks ordinary motion-to-dismiss and summary-judgment standards
rather than a heightened "clear and convincing evidence" test.

Attorney's fees

An award of court costs, reasonable attorney fees, and reasonable
litigation expenses is mandatory for a prevailing movant. The same
mandatory award goes the other way — to the responding party — only if the
court finds the motion was brought frivolously or filed solely to delay
the case.

Right to appeal

Only the moving party — the defendant who filed the special motion — has a
statutory right to an immediate appeal, and only from an order denying the
motion in whole or in part. The Act creates no matching right for a
responding party to immediately appeal a grant; a plaintiff whose claim is
dismissed has to wait for the case to become final in the ordinary way,
unless some other rule of appellate procedure applies.

Exemptions

The Act doesn't apply to claims against a government unit or official
acting in an official capacity, or to a government enforcement action
protecting against an imminent health or safety threat. It also doesn't
apply to a claim against a person primarily engaged in selling or leasing
goods or services, where the claim arises from a communication related to
that sale or lease — but that exemption doesn't reach creative, political,
journalistic, or artistic works, which are excluded from the "goods or
services" definition in the first place.

What trips people up

The appeal right runs only one way, and only from a denial. Don't
assume Utah mirrors states that let either side immediately appeal. Only a
losing movant (the defendant) gets a statutory right to appeal under this
Act, and only from a denial — some secondary sources describe this
loosely as available to "either party," but the statute's own text limits
it to the moving party appealing a denial.

The old 2008 law still controls anything filed before May 3, 2023.
Utah's current UPEPA only applies to a cause of action asserted on or
after its effective date. A case that started earlier is governed by the
prior, narrower Citizen Participation in Government Act — don't apply
UPEPA's broader scope or procedure retroactively.

Journalistic and artistic work stays protected even near the commercial
exemption's edge. The "goods or services" definition specifically
excludes dramatic, literary, musical, political, journalistic, or artistic
works, so a claim against, say, a news outlet or a political commentator
doesn't automatically fall into the commercial-speech carve-out just
because money changed hands somewhere in the chain.

Common questions

If I lose my special motion, can I appeal right away? Yes, and Utah
Supreme Court decisions in 2025 and 2026 have already applied and
interpreted this Act, confirming it's an active, litigated statute — file
under Utah Rule of Appellate Procedure 4.

If my motion is granted and the plaintiff wants to challenge that, can
they immediately appeal? No — the statute's appeal right belongs only to
the moving party appealing a denial. A plaintiff whose claim is dismissed
doesn't get the same immediate-appeal mechanism under this Act.

Does this cover a claim about my negative review of a local business?
It depends on whether the business is "primarily engaged" in selling those
goods or services and whether your review is itself treated as a
communication related to that sale — this exemption is one of the few
places Utah's version narrows on real-world review disputes.

Statutes and sources

• Utah Code § 78B-25-102 — "(2) Except as provided in Subsection (3),
  this chapter applies to a cause of action asserted in a civil action
  against a person based on the person's: (a) communication in a
  legislative, executive, judicial, administrative, or other governmental
  proceeding... or (c) exercise of the right of freedom of speech or of
  the press, the right to assemble or petition, or the right of
  association... on a matter of public concern. (3) This chapter does not
  apply to a cause of action asserted: (a) against a governmental unit...
  (b) by a governmental unit... to enforce a law to protect against an
  imminent threat to public health or safety; or (c) against a person
  primarily engaged in the business of selling or leasing goods or
  services if the cause of action arises out of a communication related to
  the person's sale or lease of the goods or services." Source:
  https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title78B/Chapter25/C78B-25_2023050320230503.pdf
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Utah Code § 78B-25-103 — "Not later than 60 days after the day on
  which a party is served with a complaint... or at a later time on a
  showing of good cause, the party may file a special motion for expedited
  relief to dismiss the cause of action or part of the cause of action."
  Source: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title78B/Chapter25/C78B-25_2023050320230503.pdf
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Utah Code § 78B-25-104(1)-(2), (4) — "(1)... on the filing of a
  motion under Section 78B-25-103: (a) all other proceedings between the
  moving party and responding party, including discovery and a pending
  hearing or motion, are stayed... (4) During a stay under Subsection (1),
  the court may allow limited discovery if a party shows that specific
  information is necessary to establish whether a party has satisfied or
  failed to satisfy a burden... and the information is not reasonably
  available unless discovery is allowed." Source:
  https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title78B/Chapter25/C78B-25_2023050320230503.pdf
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Utah Code § 78B-25-105(1) — "The court shall hear a motion under
  Section 78B-25-103 not later than 60 days after the day on which the
  motion is filed, unless the court orders a later hearing: (a) to allow
  discovery... or (b) for other good cause." Source:
  https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title78B/Chapter25/C78B-25_2023050320230503.pdf
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Utah Code § 78B-25-107(1) — "[T]he court shall dismiss with
  prejudice a cause of action... if: (a) the moving party establishes...
  that this chapter applies; (b) the responding party fails to
  establish... that this chapter does not apply; and (c) either: (i) the
  responding party fails to establish a prima facie case as to each
  essential element...; or (ii) the moving party establishes that: (A) the
  responding party failed to state a cause of action...; or (B) there is
  no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is
  entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Source:
  https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title78B/Chapter25/C78B-25_2023050320230503.pdf
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Utah Code § 78B-25-109 — "(1) A moving party may appeal as a matter
  of right from an order denying, in whole or in part, a motion under
  Section 78B-25-103. (2) The appeal shall be filed in accordance with
  Utah Rules of Appellate Procedure, Rule 4." Source:
  https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title78B/Chapter25/C78B-25_2023050320230503.pdf
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Utah Code § 78B-25-110 — "[T]he court shall award court costs,
  reasonable attorney fees, and reasonable litigation expenses related to
  the motion: (1) to the moving party if the moving party prevails on the
  motion; or (2) to the responding party if the responding party prevails
  on the motion and the court finds that the motion was frivolous or filed
  solely with intent to delay the proceeding." Source:
  https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title78B/Chapter25/C78B-25_2023050320230503.pdf
  (accessed 2026-07-05).